Eight for Equity! September Roundup

Here’s your September Eight for Equity! Post—a roundup of eight of our favorite videos, articles, tools, and resources for advancing educational equity. Check back often so you never miss one of our Eight for Equity posts and join the conversation on Twitter (#EightForEquity) by sharing your response to the resources, or share one of your own favorites—we might even feature your resources and give you a shout out in a future post!

Eight for Equity! September Roundup

Center to Advance Racial Equity: Policies to Eliminate Racial Disparities in Education: A Literature Review. This resource is really 160 in one! The Eliminating Disparities Collaborative brings together a literature review of over 100 articles to examine how practices and policies in education—from teacher recruitment and retention to family engagement and classroom pedagogy—can be leveraged to eliminate racial disparities in the American education system.

Center for Assessment and Policy Development: Action for Access: Do Your Students Have Access? Are you in need of finding an entry point for discussing achievement gaps in your school or district? One important starting point is to consider that achievement gaps may be the result of access gaps. From Todd Lacher at the Center for Assessment and Policy Development, this topical chart provides probing questions to consider which students have access to which resources—and be sure to click the “resources” links for more tools to add to your equity toolkit!

DIVERSITYinEd: Equity Literacy: More than Celebrating Diversity. For a small article—only three pages!—this is one powerful resource! Author Paul Gorski is a professor at the School of Integrative Studies at George Mason University specializing in education social justice research and field work. In this piece, Gorski explains the term equityliteracy which “involves real conversations about issues like racism, economic inequality, sexism, homophobia and ableism.” Be sure to read through to the end for five probing questions to examine our current equity & diversity efforts!

Education Week: Author Interview: 'Teacher Agency for Equity'. In this EdWeek interview, author Raquel Ríos discusses her new book “Teacher Agency for Equity: A Framework for Conscientious Engagement.” In the interview, Ríos warns that “the great majority of teachers go into teaching for altruistic reasons … altruism left unchecked, however, in the context of schools where many teachers and administrators are white while the student population is majority students of color may perpetuate the problems we wish to ameliorate, such as racist ideology or inequality.” In light of this, Ríos’ book provides a framework of six interlocking principles and reflective questions for educators to begin reforming their practice today.

Schott Foundation: Black Lives Matter Report. This 5th edition of the Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males “is intended to again alert the nation to the serious reality of a quieter danger that does not instantly end young lives, but creates an all but insurmountable chasm of denied opportunities that consigns them to limited chances to succeed in life.” The Schott Foundation advocates that it is through education that we stand the best chance to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. This report will challenge your assumptions and push your thinking on educational equity… and give you one more reason to be shouting “Black Lives Matter!”

Sean Harris: Education is a Public Good. In my humble opinion, videos and infographics are some of the best ways to communicate facts, inspire others to action, and to bring people together around a common cause. In this video, a promotion for the Schott Foundation Black Lives Matter report (featured in this September roundup), hear the rally cry for how the success of black boys in our schools is critical for the numerous contributions black families make in our country, including as service men, business owners, and charitable givers.

The New York Times: New York City Offers Free Lunch for All Public School Students. At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, New York City joined other major cities across America, such as Dallas and Boston, in offering free lunch to all district students. Be sure to read this New York Times article to explore how supplying free lunch to all students reduces stigma for low-income families and works towards eliminating the practice of “lunch shaming”!